How to Use petty in a Sentence

petty

adjective

• My behavior was petty and stupid. I apologize.
• The knifes range from the wee (petty and paring knives) to the grand (cleavers and vegetable knives).
  — Scott Hocker, theweek, 1 Nov. 2024
• No, all of you did this solely for the cheap thrill of petty theft.
  — Nate Odenkirk, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2021
• The dirty streets, the petty crime, the eerily silent transit stations.
  — Heather Knight, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2023
• Emails have piled up and my phone is abuzz with petty gossip.
  — Sarah Gillespie, Travel + Leisure, 15 May 2023
• Not in a malicious sense, of course — more a petty one.
  — Sheldon Pearce, NPR, 13 June 2024
• Part of me feels that this would be petty and vindictive.
  — R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
• Or, in this case, about science and not the petty problems of earthlings.
  — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 9 July 2024
• Were there any other ideas, in terms of petty acts of revenge, that didn't make the final cut?
  — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2023
• As in much of the rest of the region, petty corruption is rampant.
  — Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Jan. 2022
• For some in the agency, shakedowns of petty drug dealers are understood to be a perk of the job.
  — Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 1 Nov. 2022
• The full Moon of the 5th tunes you in to dreams, faraway places and vision quests—so ignore petty annoyances that are in the air.
  — Katharine Merlin, Town & Country, 1 Feb. 2023
• The real question: Was the petty feud between the two U.S. Open champions good for the game of golf?
  — Riley Hamel, USA TODAY, 26 Dec. 2021
• To be that hostile and petty — to friends, no less, who are feeding them dinner — sounds deeply jerky to me.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 5 May 2023
• But that had all been chipped away by petty jealousies and vicious fights.
  — refinery29.com, 13 Apr. 2022
• Oh, how low the men of Westeros stoop in their petty grasps for power.
  — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 17 Oct. 2022
• Bernhardt had worked at one of those plants, had a record there of petty theft, and had training as a blacksmith.
  — Joshua Hammer, Town & Country, 28 Jan. 2022
• The gossip or petty stuff is just a waste of time and is almost like an infection.
  — Stephen Gerard, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
• As deeply flawed as its many characters can be — ornery and petty and blind to their own faults — the story rarely deigns to judge them.
  — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2021
• There were deep convos, petty fights, and sky-high heels galore.
  — Korin Miller, Women's Health, 17 Aug. 2023
• For some of them, that means driving down petty crime at places central to their daily lives.
  — Paul Duggan, Washington Post, 28 July 2023
• Both men are charged with petty theft, according to the police.
  — Bruce Geiselman, cleveland, 5 Dec. 2021
• With five weeks until Election Day, this is not the time for petit niceties but rather petty needling.
  — Philip Elliott, TIME, 30 Sep. 2024
• The tension mounts, and soon husband and wife are having an ugly, petty fight.
  — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2023
• What’s more, fuel theft is not a crime that’s limited to just petty thieves.
  — Jim Gorzelany, Forbes, 18 July 2022
• In a sequel from the two-time Pulitzer winner, Ray Carney is pulled back into petty crime.
  — The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2023
• After three or so songs, the singing just feels a little like some kind of petty punishment.
  — Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 4 Oct. 2024
• Violators would be guilty of a petty offense and face a $50 fine.
  — Brieanna J. Frank, USA TODAY, 30 June 2023
• In going out of his way to target trans people with so much of the special, Chappelle comes off as petty and out of touch.
  — Peter Debruge, Variety, 5 Nov. 2021
• Tren de Aragua is best known for petty crimes, such as retail theft, and for targeting other Venezuelan migrants.
  — Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024

Last Updated: 9 Jun 2024